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Emperor Taizong of Tang

598 CE – 649 CE

Retrace Emperor Taizong of Tang's life across the map — 7 events in chronological order, from a cinematic flythrough to a full timeline.

Life journey

1. Battle of Huoyi617 CE
   The Battle of Huoyi was fought in China on 8 September 617, between the forces of the rebel Duke of Tang, Li Yuan, and the army of the ruling Sui dynasty. Li Yuan, with an army of around 25,000, was advancing south along the Fen River towards the imperial capital, Daxingcheng. His advance was stalled for two weeks due to heavy rainfall, and he was met at the town of Huoyi by an elite Sui army of 20,000 men. Li Yuan's cavalry, under the command of his two eldest sons, lured the Sui out of the protection of the city walls, but in the first clash between the two main armies, Li Yuan's forces were initially driven back. At that point, possibly due to a stratagem on Li Yuan's behalf, the arrival of the rest of the rebel army, or the flanking maneuver of Li Yuan's cavalry, which had gotten behind the Sui army, the Sui troops collapsed and routed, fleeing back towards Huoyi. Li Yuan's cavalry, however, cut off their retreat. The battle was followed by the capture of weakly defended Huoyi and the advance on Daxingcheng, which fell to the rebels in November. The following year, Li Yuan deposed the Sui and proclaimed himself emperor, beginning the Tang dynasty.
2. Battle of Hulao621 CE
   The Battle of Hulao, or Battle of Sishui, was a decisive Tang victory over the rival Zheng and Hebei-based Xia polities during the transition from Sui to Tang. The battle took place during the Luoyang–Hulao campaign on 28 May 621 when a Xia army – led by Dou Jiande, ruler of Xia – was defeated attacking a smaller Tang army – led by Prince Li Shimin – entrenched at the strategic Hulao Pass.
3. Xuanwu Gate Incident626 CE
   The Xuanwu Gate Incident was a palace coup for the throne of the Tang dynasty on 2 July 626. During the incident, Prince Li Shimin and his followers assassinated his brothers Crown Prince Li Jiancheng and Prince Li Yuanji.
4. Emperor Taizong's campaign against the Western Regions640 CE
   In the years following Tang Taizong's subjugation of the Eastern Turkic Khaganate, the emperor began to exert his military power toward the oasis city-states of the Tarim Basin. These states, populated by Tocharian and Saka peoples, were loosely allied with the Western Turkic Khaganate. In 640, Emperor Taizong sent the military commander Hou Junji to defeat and annex Gaochang (Karakhoja)—the first attempt by any Chinese dynasty to set up a permanent military and political presence in the region since Fu Jian in the 4th century. In 644, after Karasahr (Yanqi)—an ally in the campaign against Karakhoja—turned against Tang and allied with the Western Turkic Khaganate, the Tang commandant at Karakhoja, Guo Xiaoke, attacked and captured the King of Karasahr, Long Tuqizhi, but Karasahr subsequently rebelled. In 648, the ethnically Turkic Tang general Ashina She'er who was the second son of Shibi Khan, attacked both Karasahr and Kucha in the northern Tarim, conquering both. Kashgar and Khotan in the western Tarim then also submitted to Tang, allowing the dynasty to dominate the region until it was briefly seized by Tibet during the reign of Emperor Taizong's son Emperor Gaozong.
5. Goguryeo–Tang War645 CE
   The Goguryeo–Tang War occurred from 645 to 668 and was fought between Goguryeo and the Tang dynasty. During the course of the war, the two sides allied with various other states. Goguryeo successfully repulsed the invading Tang armies during the first Tang invasions of 645–648. After conquering Baekje in 660, Tang and Silla armies invaded Goguryeo from the north and south in 661, but were forced to withdraw in 662. In 666, Yŏn Kaesomun died and Goguryeo became plagued by violent dissension, numerous defections, and widespread demoralization. The Tang–Silla alliance mounted a fresh invasion in the following year, aided by the defector Yŏn Namsaeng. In late 668, exhausted from numerous military attacks and suffering from internal political chaos, Goguryeo and the remnants of Baekje army succumbed to the numerically superior armies of the Tang dynasty and Silla.
6. Siege of Ansi645 CE
   The siege of Ansi took place between Goguryeo and Tang forces in Ansi, a fortress in the Liaodong Peninsula, and the culmination of the First campaign in the Goguryeo–Tang War. The confrontation lasted for about three months from 20 June 645 to 18 September 645.
7. Tang campaign against Kucha648 CE
   The Tang campaign against Kucha was led by the Tang dynasty general Ashina She'er against the Tarim Basin oasis state of Kucha in Xinjiang, which was aligned with the Western Turkic Khaganate. The campaign began in 648 and ended on 19 January 649, after the surrender of the Kuchan forces following a forty-day siege of Aksu. Kuchean soldiers tried to recapture the kingdom with the assistance of the Western Turkic Khaganate, but were defeated by the Tang army.

Event data from Wikipedia/Wikidata (CC-BY-SA). Spotted a mistake? Email [email protected].